Glimpses
by d'Anima
Summary: A collection of TenRose centric drabbles and ficlets. Throughout series. Ch 11: He was a child adding toys to his collection
1. Sin

**Babble (200 words)**

Spoilers: Impossible Planet/Satan Pit

Sin

-

Was it really worth it? To try so hard, only to have failed again? He attempted to find some small redemption. But it wasn't enough to wash away his sins.

_He almost lost her this time._

He closed his eyes, content in the comfort of his ship. But it was still there, that niggling, sinister thought. Could he keep it up? Could he keep on sacrificing those around him?

_She'll be here soon._

Was he strong enough to face her, to look her in the eye and apologise? For all those times he risked her safety, just to save someone else. Could he make her understand?

_The universe for a girl. _

Was it worth it?

No, he'd just smile, and hug her, and joke about what happened. They wouldn't speak of it, not once, though they both knew it in their hearts. But saying it would make it all the more real.

Steeling his nerves for when that door would open, he tried to keep his mind from lingering on what had happened. What had nearly happened…

_The valiant child who will die in battle so very soon._

It was inevitable. And when she did, it would be by him.


	2. Garlic

**Ficlet**

Spoilers: None

Crazy and utterly deranged. Blame this on the garlic in my fridge. And my sister.

Prompt: Garlic

-

The best thing about Italy, in Rose's opinion, (aside from attractive Italians named Luca, fantastic views and exquisite perfume) was the food. You could never have enough pasta.

As she sat in a small booth of a small restaurant in a small Italian town, she shovelled spaghetti into her mouth, intent on nothing else. The Doctor watched her across the table, an untouched plate in front of him. Rose couldn't tell why, but unless it was a trick of her imagination, it looked like he was _glaring _at it.

"Doctor?" Rose asked questioningly. "Why aren't you eating?"

Said Doctor narrowed his eyes at the hated food. "It's got garlic in it." He said simply, sitting back. "I don't like garlic."

"Why not? Are you allergic to it?"

He blinked at her, his mind registering what she had just said. "Me? Allergic to human food? Honestly Rose, I'm not so low-class as to be vulnerable to something so…primitive." He wrinkled his nose in disdain.

"Right." Rose sighed. _'Insulting species again.'_ She thought, noting the bitter tone in her companion's voice. She watched him over a forkful of spaghetti. "There's nothing bad about garlic. What's wrong with it?"

The Doctor stared at her incredulously. "What's _wrong _with it? Garlic, Rose. _Garlic. _What does garlic rhyme with?"

"Uh…marlic?"

"Marlic? That's not even a word. And I should know. I once studied a book called One Hundred and One Reasons Why English Rhyme is Backwards. Quite good, actually. Was a bestseller about 70 years ago. Of course, back then there was the whole literacy movement so everyone was writing books and novels and things people didn't really need, only to show their unique grasp of –"

"Doctor."

"Oh. Right." The Doctor blinked, seeming to come back to what he was really focusing on. "Where was I? Garlic." He seemed to sneer at the offending herb. "Think Rose! What else does it rhyme with?"

"I don't know, Doctor. Why don't you just tell me?"

He muttered darkly under his breath about the idiocy of humans. "_Dalek, _Rose! It rhymes with Dalek!"

"Oh."

-

Review, my pretties! Review!


	3. Siren

**Drabble**

Spoilers: None.

Takes place sometime after The Satan Pit.

Prompt: Siren

-

He stands a little way back, hands loose by his sides. He stares straight ahead, his eyes shining.

The red lights glare, a paramedic gives him a fleeting glance, a child is dying. He doesn't see any of it. He is empty.

The entire universe, and in the end it was Earth. The same way her father went. But this time, without anyone to hold her hand. He couldn't even do that.

A far-off siren screams, but he doesn't hear it. The words of the Beast ring in his ears, and they are far louder than anything in this world.


	4. Key

**Babble and a tad (229 words)**

Spoilers: None

I couldn't really shorten it much more. I suppose I could've, but I like it this way.

Prompt: Key

-

"Oh, I don't know. I rather fancy myself as a sort of Gregor Mendel."

"Yeah, yeah." Rose giggled and tucked a messy plait behind her ear. "Hurry up."

"I'm hurrying."

They were standing just outside the TARDIS, after a little trip to 19th century Austria to aid in the research of genetics by use of pea plants. As thanks, they had received two buckets of free peas. This had come in very handy when they were stuck in 1960s London after a miscalculation, courtesy of the Doctor's complete lack of direction.

While trying to get mushy green bits out of his teeth, the Doctor was attempting to unlock the TARDIS. Without much luck. "I just can't seem to –" He frowned and jiggled the key some more.

Rose laughed. "Oh, is the great Doctor beaten by a little key?"

"No." He replied rudely. "She's just a bit temperamental, is all."

After a bit more pushing and shoving and cursing, the Doctor finally managed to get the door open and strode in. After which he immediately strode out again.

A bemused Rose watched him. "What's wrong? Is it broken?"

"Nope." He said quietly, turning to walk across the street.

Frowning, Rose poked her head around the door, and then pulled it back out. She smiled.

The Doctor's manly ego must've been bruised from accidentally walking into a real police box.


	5. Forever

**Babble**

Spoilers: None

Prompt: Forever

- 

Forever was an illusion. The Doctor knew that. But Rose was naïve, inexperienced. Did she not realise that their time would end? Did she not realise how much it hurt?

Forever was only a fantasy. He wanted to go on pretending. To keep smiling, but he couldn't. Was it better to end it now, to run?

"_How long will you stay with me?"_

"_Forever."_

He smiled then as well, only it was a bitter, lost smile. Forever had crushed him before. Perhaps he was foolish, to give his heart to others, only to have it ripped away each time.

But that didn't stop him. He'd give his heart to her all over again.

But that also didn't stop it hurting.

Forever was just the beast that haunted his dreams. Forever was just the nightmare. He could rid the nightmares of so many others, but not his own. If he could, he'd destroy anything that would keep him from her.

_If I could…_

He doesn't want her to know that she'll leave him. One day she will, but not now. Forever can wait.

So for the moment, he'll put his arm around her and smile. Until forever comes to claim her.


	6. Peanuts

**Ficlet**

Spoilers: None

Just a silly little thing. A little fluffy, but mostly nutty. (Heh. That was so cheesy. Ack. I'm using so many stupid adjectives.)

Prompt: Peanuts

-

"You should always have a bag of peanuts on hand, Rose." The Doctor waves a half-eaten bag in Rose's face. "Just like bananas." He shovels another handful of the nuts in his mouth.

"Peanuts are brilliant. They can solve anything. Just like chips." He scrutinises a peanut before popping it in his mouth. "A peanut is like a lamb, trying to nudge its solid-frozen mother to…" He pauses. "Oh wait, I'm quoting Ted Hughes."

Rose laughs and nudges him amiably in his ribs. "Yeah, of course they are." She follows the Doctor into the TARDIS and kicks of her shoes. "I'm knackered. D'you think we can have a nap or something?"

"A nap?" The Doctor throws his coat over one of the railings. "Why would I, of all people, have a nap? I don't have any use for one. Naps are for little children and nanas."

"Well so what? C'mon then nana, let's have one." Rose grabs his hand and tugs him down one of the many hallways.

Letting his feet walk after her, the Doctor glances at his bag of peanuts and weighs up his options. Have a nap with Rose or eat nuts? It really was a tough decision. But then again, the peanuts did make him in a cuddlier mood. And he _could _eat them later.

With his extraordinarily large mind made up, he follows Rose into a comfy sitting-room and plonks himself down on a couch next to her. Rose smiles and tucks her feet beneath her, nestling her head in the crook of the Doctor's neck.

The Doctor smiles as well and rests his head on top of hers. After a second thought, he drops a few peanuts into his mouth, and then they both fall asleep.


	7. Tears

**300 word babble**

Take note that the change between 'you' to 'I' is deliberate. See if anyone can figure it out.

This is for Claire. :3

Prompt: Tears

-

Blood-scented smoke fills his nose. The stench of burning flesh hangs in the air, sinking over the torn land and seeping into his bones.

His suit is soaked with the falling rain, and to his relief the blood runs away with the water. He wants to do the same.

_You did it again._

Before him, the remains of a sprawling city stretch out, flames glimmering through the rainy haze. His eyes move to the wrecked clock tower, as the hands shift to the hour. As the bell rings out, each chime tears away a little piece of his heart.

He tries not to look at the wreckage of the alien ship, at the tattered corpses of the creatures who had come looking for a feast.

_You saved the world, but lost something much bigger._

He scans the faces of the survivors in vain, his eyes desperately seeking her face, her eyes, her smile. Without realising it, the tears that had been stolen away until now start to fall.

He wants to pretend this hasn't happened. He wants to wake up and smile and laugh and forget this, because she's gone and it's his fault and no amount of pretending can ever bring her back and he knows that.

_I'm sorry…_

To the broken-hearted, haggard people around him, he is nothing but one of them. Like them, his heart is torn and bleeding, but he is more broken than any of them could imagine. He has more tears than can ever be sewn, more terror than no amount of words can fix.

They do not see his sadness. They see only tears and rain, and cannot distinguish further. But still, he cries, like he has done before, and knows will do again.

And he turns, and walks away from the wreckage.


	8. Sun

_Author's Note: Haven't written any Doctor Who fics in aeons. Although, expect more, after me watching the Christmas special and re-watching all the season 2 episodes. I'll continue to write Rose fics, if that's alright with my readers. - Too bad if it's not!_

_This one's a bit odd. A mix up of quite a few ideas, it's a sort of odd-end thing. Took me just under an hour to write it (in between snacking on pasta). Takes a more sinister look at the life of the Doctor._

_-_

He is the sun. Like any sun, he burns with an intensity unfathomable to man, something that cannot be imagined even by the strongest of hearts. A beautiful, terrifying creature. One to be feared and revered. An entire system is built around him, and he likes it that way. It gives him something to play with. After all, what does a god do when there is nothing left to be seen?

They depend on him. Without him, they would die. And in an ironic twist of fate, he'll be the one to destroy them as well. To live is to die, to die is to live. A god, a burning entity who both saves and devastates. Who was it that said damnation and salvation are the same thing?

He draws so many into his life, gives them a rope and allows them to follow it until they are inevitably pulled in. They see the promise of something new, of something exciting, of something better. And they want to get near him, to touch him, to hold him. He is their life-force, and gravity is all too happy to hold the two together.

Suns know how to kill. With each planet that is trapped by their energy, they grow bigger, and bigger, crumbling away at the edges of their devoted followers, wearing them down until they are nothing, burning away at them until they succumb.

There was a point when one would get too close, would touch him, and at that moment the world turns around. That person, that blessed person who at the same time was more god-forsaken than could ever be known, is branded by his fire. An invisible, undeniable, inescapable scar. Once you see what's out there, there's no going back.

Even in death, he'll drag so many down with him. The last act of the night, the final curtain. It is incomparable, the death of a sun, of something so magnificent. He'll reach out to light the furthest corners of the universe, in that split-second before he dies, and he'll take his solar system with him. They can't escape him. Even if they wanted to.

In the end, they knew it all along. Get too close to the sun and you'll burn up.


	9. Interview

_Author's Note: I know what you're thinking – my God, an update from **her**? But it's true. This one is for Claire and Megan, who I know will get this. For all those who haven't met the character before, don't worry, it'll still make sense._

_-_

"I don't really know why I'm doing this."

"Aw, come on Doctor, it's just for a laugh. You never know, we might find someone really cool."

The Doctor grumbled at this proposal, and shifted his gaze back to the line of people snaking its way through the street.

It wasn't _his_ idea, of course it wouldn't be, but Rose had said she wanted some more company, and it was either interviewing people or bringing along her mother or Mickey, and even the seventh god of Bastranob couldn't get him to agree to the latter.

So here he was, frowning as another neurotic, middle-aged techie who spent far too many hours playing World of Warcraft tried to worm his way into the TARDIS.

"I mean…you know, I just think I'd be good for the job."

"But why?" The Doctor pushed. As soon as this was over, the better.

"Well…" the guy ran a hand through his greasy hair. He straightened his already straight tie and attempted a flirty grin at Rose.

"I'm a Dungeon Master, and I can slice up some Elder Air Elementals at a rate of 45 a minute. Yeah. I got Epic Weapon Specialisation with an Obsidian Halberd."

The Doctor gave Rose a warning look. "All right, thank you very much, now you need to go home and give the WoW Addicts Anonymous hotline a call."

"Well, he was a bit naff," Rose murmured as they watched him trudge away. "If I see one more guy like that I'll scream."

Fortunately, the next candidate wasn't at all like that. In fact, he didn't even look _remotely _like the sort of man you would find applying for a position like this. But, this aside, he flicked his pristine white coat behind him as he sat down and cleared his throat.

"Hello, good afternoon, Sir, and Miss –" he motioned to Rose, " – blonde, with a bit of – I see you've got some, some…in your hair, but – don't worry!" He waggled his finger. "No, it grows back on everyone."

Rose stared, caught between shock and amusement, as the man introduced himself. "I'm Dr. Alan Statham, Consul – well, _ex _Consultant Radiologist, at your service."

The Doctor wrinkled his nose. "Ex? Did you get fired?"

"Well," Alan Statham rubbed his glasses with the edge of his coat, "the matter remains to be seen, but I was, uh, dismissed, over certain personal differences." He paused. "Fear not though! I certainly still have all my qualifications, all the skill and expertise needed to fly any whizzy, flippy, with the big blue box ship, don't worry!"

"Right. Well, I'm the Doctor, and this is Rose."

"Doctor? Of – of what?"

"Oh, this and that. Don't really have a certificate mind you, but I can put on a band-aid as well as the next."

"Well, if you've go no – you're, you're not a proper bloody doctor!"

The Doctor blinked slowly. "Yes I am. Just not the type you know."

"No, you're not. I, I am a proper doctor, not you or the bloody Lyndon with the – with the face, and the – shut up! Just shut up!"

And with that, Alan rose to his feet and strode dramatically away, and, fearing that the Doctor-who-wasn't would come after him, ducked into the nearest blue police call box he could find.

He blinked, once, twice, and straightened up, staring at the enormous room before him. "It's – what?" He said in a very small voice, a look of utter shock on his face. He ducked, raising his arms in defence, as if he thought something might fly out of this impossible space and attack him.

"Now look what you've done." The Doctor poked his head round the TARDIS door. "Rose, this is all your fault."

"Don't look at me, Doctor." She tried to hide a smile. "He came in here all on his own."

Alan turned at the sound of their voices, at once resuming his mask of immense calm and cool (as he thought). He straightened his coat. "I can see what's going on here. Yes, very clever, but oh no! I can see right through it!"

At the sight of the Doctor and Rose's stunned looks, he continued, triumphant. "It's all a trick of the mind, isn't it? Yes, you're stunned now that I've discovered your secret. You and those breasts and this bloody thing are all nitty-natty, jiggly-wiggly figments of my mind!"

Rose crossed her arms over her chest, frowning. "Doctor, I think he's gone a bit mad."

"Aha!" Alan leapt towards the door. "Farewell, my fiendish foe of a mind!"

And he ran straight out the door.


	10. Dance

_**Word count: **__394 (Damnit! Nearly 400!)_

_**Author's Note: **__Oh lord, praise thyself, for I have actually updated a story in God knows how long. Okay, this is a crackfic, flames welcomes, reviews adored. _

-

"'Harry Alonzo Longabaugh, wanted for ransacking, theft and general inconvenience.' Dated February 17th, 1901." The Doctor wrinkled his nose in distaste, scrunching up the wanted poster and tossing it behind him. "General inconvenience?" He snorted. "Must've been just before he scurried off to Argentina."

"Uh, Doctor?" Rose eyed him quizzically. "Who's 'he'"?

"He," the Doctor slapped that day's newspaper onto the TARDIS' console, "is one of the most wanted men in the U.S. You'd know him better as the Sundance Kid."

Rose laughed. "The Sundance Kid? As in, Butch Cassidy, shoot 'em up, notorious outlaw Sundance Kid? That one?"

"That's the one." He peered out the door. "Not sure what we're meant to be doing here though. Unless there's a gun-toting imp from Garbogswa around here. They tend to like these sorts of things."

Upon catching sight of something, he gasped the sort of gasp Rose could imagine coming from Kate off _Days of our Lives _after she spotted Nicholas kissing Sammy right after she went to dinner with him. In short, it was a _shocked_ sort of gasp.

"Rose!" He squeaked, beckoning her over. "He's _ginger!_ I come all this way to find out he's ginger and got a moustache!"

"Is that him?" She frowned at a man not too far away in the distance. "Is that the Sundance Kid?"

"He's ginger _and_ he can dance in the sun."

"I never thought I'd – what did you say?" Rose raised an eyebrow at him. "About dancing in the sun?"

"Didn't you know that was where he got the name from? He dances in the sun to confuse the people trying to shoot him."

"Er, I don't think that's where it's from, Doctor, I think it was because of that prison –"

"Right!" The Doctor strode out of the TARDIS, pausing only once to glance back at Rose.

"Rose, I'm the Doctor, and I can dance. If he thinks he's so good with his feet, let's see how he compares with the real McCoy. We're going to have ourselves a showdown."

"What?" Rose looked horrified. "Doctor, you can't! I know how you feel about guns, and he'll, he'll kill you!"

"Rose, don't be daft. I'm not going to have a stand off with him. That's ridiculous, and might I add, immature."

"Then…what're you going to do?"

"Challenge him to a game of Dance Dance Revolution."

-

_**Author's Note: **__To clear things up, Harry Longabaugh was named the Sundance Kid after his 18-month stint in Sundance, Wyoming jail. But hey, the Doctor didn't know that. He just let his imagination get away with him._


	11. Collection

_**Collection**_

_**Rating: **__G_

_**Word Count**_: _523_

_**Spoilers: **__Doomsday_

_**Author's Note: **__So, an update. Surprised? So am I. Anyway, I just felt like something darkish. I'm very, very sorry for how horrible they are. I can't help but blow the bad points of characters I like way out of proportion and make them awful. Be nice. And please review!_

* * *

He stares at her.

Waits for her to say what he needs to hear.

She stares back at him, crying. Gasping.

God, it's _killing _her.

She registers his smiling face but doesn't realise. Why he's smiling.

Why he's _just _smiling.

He stands and lets her cry. Each tear he commits to memory; each gaze, smile and frown to the archive in his mind of expressions just like these. It'll be done soon, anyway, he thinks. Like the others.

And like the others, she reflexively laughs when he asks about the bay, and her family, and doesn't wonder why he's not as focussed on her as she is on him. That's a good laugh, and he replays it back in his head.

Looking at her now, standing in front of him with her tear-stained cheeks and pleading eyes, he thinks he's never seen such a perfect human being before. And then he remembers.

He has.

Still, Rose is exquisite, and he carefully tucks her away between the faded pages of a book that he'll open again later, perhaps when the night was just a little too dark and the stars just weren't shining bright enough.

A tight, grim smile forms on his face, and he pities her when she asks what he'll do next. She really has no idea. She thinks he'll be lost without her.

She's not the first -

As if they mean that much.

Of course, they were his worlds when they were with him, but afterwards . . . the only significant one was the one he had, right then, right there. He was a child adding toys to his collection. There would always be someone brighter and better than they were.

She's struggling now. She starts to speak but chokes the words back.

He inhales deeply and readies himself. He knows what's coming.

_I love you,_ she says, and she smiles and her eyes light up as if she'd just said the most beautiful words in the world.

She has, to him, and he carefully, oh, so carefully, memorises the way she spoke them; her intonations and the way she ran them together and her little gasp afterwards. But as he looks at her, he realises he's not getting as much satisfaction as he thought he would have. Oh well, he thinks, and he sighs. Even the most beautiful things become dull when you hear them a thousand times over.

He feels almost embarrassed for her, for this poor little child who thought she was so much more than she actually was. She overestimated herself and his love for her. Or rather, his love for what she was. A specimen - a polished, shining stone, a rare creature.

A delicate flower.

Too soon he feels himself fading, and the stricken look in her eyes is beautiful. That's the way he'll remember her forever; heartbroken, needing, and totally, madly, hopelessly devoted to _him. _A perfect addition to his collection.

* * *

It's not until he is safe in his TARDIS, and the tears are streaming down his face, that it occurs to him.

No, he thinks, his hands shaking. Perhaps she's _not_ like the others, after all.


End file.
